AMERICUS - Georgia Southwestern men's golfer Nate Gahman was named to the NCAA Division II PING All-Region Southeast Team on Friday afternoon by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
Gahman capped off a successful senior season with a memorable postseason run. The All-Peach Belt Conference First Team honoree from Leesburg led the Hurricanes throughout the three-day, three-round South/Southeast Super Regional and earned the program's second trip to the national tournament as an individual after carding a 3-over par 219 total.
Gahman finished eighth out of 108-players at the 54-hole regional event but it took two extra holes to determine if his collegiate career would continue. Gahman tied Adam Hedges of Belmont Abbey College and Daniel Claytor from Barton College for the top score from a player not on a team advancing to the national tournament. With only two individual invites available and three players tied, a playoff followed. All three golfers shot par on the first playoff hole, but Gahman and Hedges birdied the second playoff hole to punch their tickets to the NCAA Championships, May 20–22 in Hershey, Pa.
At nationals, Gahman fired a final round 73 to finish tied for 19th place overall out of 108 golfers. He opened the third round on fire at the par-71, 6,984-yard Hershey Country Club East Course, sinking birdie putts on his first two holes, and quickly moved up to 14th place after starting the final round in 26th.
A bogey on the fourth hole slowed his momentum and Gahman eventually returned to even with a bogey on seven.
Gahman was back in the red after a birdie on the par-4 11th hole, but three-consecutive bogeys down the stretch bumped him back to a 2-over final score for the day and an 8-over 221 for the tournament.
Gahman ended the year second in the Peach Belt Conference with a 73.6 scoring average. He posted four top-10 finishes in 12 events. Of the 33 rounds played in 2012-13, he finished under par 10 times with a season-low round of 3-under 69 coming in the second round of the PBC Tournament.
Gahman becomes the program's fourth All-Region honoree with all four selections coming over the past four seasons.
A total of 109 players across eight regions - East, Atlantic, Southeast, South, Midwest, South Central, Central and West - earned PING All-Region honors for 2013.
Division II PING All-Region Team
Southeast
Matt Atkins, USC Aiken
Jamie Chapman, Lincoln Memorial
Daniel Claytor, Barton
John Frisby, Belmont Abbey
Nate Gahman, Georgia Southwestern State
Jesse Gibson, Columbus State
Conner Godsey, Montevallo
Chandler Greunemeier, Newberry
Adam Hedges, Belmont Abbey
Bryan Lichimo, Columbus State
J.P. Solis, USC Aiken
Brad Thorne, Erskine